South Pacific Defence Ministers Meet Against Backdrop of Rising Tensions

A week after Beijing launched an ICBM test aimed at the Pacific—the first time it had done so in 30 years—defence ministers from across the Pacific met for their ninth annual gathering. Overshadowing other concerns at the South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM) was an evolving security landscape marked by increasing aggression from Beijing. Hosted by New Zealand, the meeting brought together defence ministers, chiefs of defence, and secretaries of defence from New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, France, Tonga, Chile, and Papua New Guinea, as well as observers from Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The SPDMM provides a forum for Pacific countries to develop joint strategies, enhancing their defence capabilities and their ability to protect their collectively vast exclusive economic zones (EEZs)....